This Killer, Invasive Beetle Is Spreading Across Texas

Bad news for trees and forests across the Lone Star State. A small, green killer is working its way across Texas and showing up in new locations at an alarming rate.

According to Texas Standard, the Emerald Ash Borer were first found in Texas in 2016, but the Texas A&M Forest Service the beetle that is known for living inside ash trees has been found in at least five new counties in Texas.

According to MySanAntonio.com, the Emerald Ash Borer, also known as EAB, is infesting and killing ash trees in Grayson, Hill, Hood, McLennan, and Palo Pinto counties. The EAB has been found in 35 states including Texas and is known for wiping out different ash trees.

The beetles find cracks in the bark and lay their eggs there according to Texas Standard. That's when the larvae begins to borrow into the tree.

And they’re going to feed on the vascular tissue – what we call the phloem, the cambium. Those are parts of the tree that actually move nutrients throughout the tree. And when you start eating on that and you start destroying that vascular tissue, what happens is that you girdle the whole tree.

Basically it is cutting the flow of nutrients, and the tree ends up dying. So it’s very common to see things like dieback or the canopy start dying. Big limbs start dying, and then, that usually ends up in mortality.

One of the ways of attempting to control the infestation of the beetle? By destroying the tree before the adult leaves it. In other words, that tree may die but hopefully others will be saved.

Scientist have called the ecological impact significant.